Day 10

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States: Wyoming
Miles driven: 1
Miles hiked: 8.75
Slept: My tent at Stoughs Lakes, Wind River Mtn Range.
10 words or less: 1,700′ elevation in 1.8 miles? That’s why some hired llamas.

Hiking with a celebrity – they’re just like regular people!

We hit the trailhead, ready for a tough 9 mile hike on the Worthen Meadows Trail up to Stough Creek Lakes in the Wind River mountain range. We started out at 8,900’ and ended at our campsite at 10,600’ elevation. The haze was still pretty bad, but it seemed there was always something amazing to see with every rise in the trail or turn of a switchback. With our 35lb packs on our backs, we crossed paths with a family hiking down the trail with a train of pack llamas. Jealous!

My new friend Nate, one of the hiking partners, had brought his dog Sonny Bono along. The night before had gotten pretty cold and he let Sonny sleep in my tent for warmth (and, so I was told, so Nate could sleep without a giant dog wedged in his sleeping bag for once!). I loved having Sonny along. He and I hit it off in a big way. It was pretty cool how he kept looking back to make sure everyone was keeping up. Sometimes he’d stand in the middle of the trail and wait for any stragglers, then fall back in step when we were in view.

We made it to our campsite shortly after the skies let loose a light rain shower. Scrambling to pop up tents, half expecting a downpour, I thought this was going to be a really sucky weekend if this shit kept up. On cue, the rain stopped. On cue, my flask of vodka came out. Desert island necessities apply to back-packing trips too. We wandered around and checked out the lakes at sunset, had our dinners and called it a night. The rain and wind picked up and annoyed the crap out of me all night. I got about zero sleep, unfortunately.